Dr. John J. Cochrane, former Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty member and department chair, has created the Cochrane Fellowship Fund to recruit and retain exceptional students to the graduate program in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The fund he has established will provide a fellowship stipend for the academic year to two recipients annually.

Dr. Cochrane stated, “Northeastern’s progressive, rigorous engineering program gave me my start, and I want to give back by helping promising young people attain the academic credentials they need to also have a successful professional career.”

Cochrane Fellows will be graduate students focusing on research in Environmental Engineering or Science within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The first two fellowships are expected to be awarded for Fall 2017.

“On behalf of Northeastern University, the College of Engineering, and the Civil and Environmental Engineering department, I want to thank Dr. Cochrane for his generous, thoughtful, and enduring gift. It opens up opportunities for deserving students who have the potential through innovation to make an impact in society,” Jerome Hajjar, CDM Smith Professor and Chair, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

About Dr. Cochrane

Dr. Cochrane graduated from Northeastern University in 1960 with a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and returned to join the College of Engineering faculty in 1965, and remained a professor at the College for 30 years. He served as chair of the department from 1977 to 1980 and retired as Professor Emeritus in 2000. As a licensed professional engineer, he consulted on a number of environmental engineering projects in the Northeast. Throughout his career, Dr. Cochrane was active in professional societies including the Boston Society of Civil Engineers, the New England Water Environment Association, and the New England Waterworks Association. Those in our community who worked with Dr. Cochrane during his tenure at Northeastern will remember him to be an avid skier and sailboat racer, two activities that he continues to be involved with today.